Sausage-linking machine.



PATBNTED MAY 21, 1907.

H. R. KUBRSTEN.

SAUSAGE LINKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23. 1906.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

'PATBNTED MAY-21,1907 H. R. KUERSTEN.

SAUSAGE LINKING MACHINE.

I AYPLIOATION FILED 1123.23. 1906.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2,

' LMIEJJEJ:

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

' with?" PATENTED MAY 21, 1907.

, mm on H. R. KUERSTEN. SAUSAGE LINKING MACHINE.

nrucnron nun mm. 23. ms

mm 1 L a w QNAMM m z, 3 23 u 3 B m.

@n hm Ill. 3

2% F mm w wmfm Elm No. 954,044. v PATENTED MAY 21, 1907.

' H. B. KUBRSTBN.

.- SAUSAGE LINKING MACHINE.

AYPLICIATION FILED FEB. 23, 1905.

4 saxiz'rs-sanm a NIT-ht. tares PATENT orrron.

HUco n. nonasrss, or CHICAGO, ILIQiiois:Ass1GNoR or ONE-THIRD cannon n. nncn'r are) ONE lHIRD TO CARL rysaon, OF CHICAGO, I

ILLIN 018.

SAUS AGE-LI NKiNG MACHINE.

tented m 21,1907

' To alLzb/mno it may calmer/1 Be it known that I, HUGO R. Kunns'rnx, a citizen of the United States, residing at Clucago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sausage-Linking Machines, of which the. following is a specification. '5

This invention is intended to be used in connrct-ion with a sausage stutter oi the usual character and is adapted to be operated simultaneously and uniformly therewith to divide the stuffed casing into'uniform lir1ks,'t wisting the alternate links in opposite directions to make a string of sausages of the usual character. I j p The object of the invention is to 'rovide ll'lOCllzllllslll for uniformly fceding orward the stuffed casing in combination with reciprocatingt istcrs working hack and forth for giving a double twist to each section or link of sausa e, twisting the links so tightly that they .wil .not untwist when the complete string of sausages isdelivered from the machine.- r 1 7: Another object of the invcntion is to pro- Vide mechanism for regulating the speed of. 0 erc-tion'of the maclune in conformity with t 1e ca Jacity of the stuficr and in view of the size 0 the links intended :to be made.

Another object of the invention is to provide adjusting mechanism for the twister-s for enabling them to operate upon links of different diameters.

The invention relates to the construction. and arrangement of the dQVlCG-IIS a whole which is intended to be easy, elficient and rapid in its operation, and is adapted to be operated by the same power that feeds the-- sausage meat from the stufier.

The invention consists in the features of construction and combination of parts hereinufter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 1s a side eleva tion of the machine and stufl'er showing the twister guide rols removed from the front.

and back of the machine; Fig. 2- a view showing the mechanism for opera ting the twisters and adjacent mechanism; F igi 7 an enlarged t-wisters; and Fig. 8 a perspective detail 'of the link clamping mechanism.

The linker consists of a frame Work 1 comrising end yokes or frames 2 -ha'vingside detail showing the method of adjusting the ars 3 and a cross head 4. The yokes are 5::

connected together at their tops by a longitudinally extending bar 5. Each of the yokes has journaled between its side uprights, upper shafts and 6 carrying sprocket? wheels 7 and 7 Immediately beneath the upper shat ts are similar lower shafts 8 and 8 on each of which are mounted. a pair of.

sprocket wheels 9 and 9 respectively. The;

lower sprocket wheels are closer together thanthe upper s rocket wheels, lying nearer. L7

to the center 0 the machine. Thefu per sprocket wheels. carry companion en less ciains 10 and the lower s rocket -whee ls. carry similar chains 11, therch within guidep'ays formed by longitudinally extending rails 12 of channel formation hav ing upper flanges 13 and lower flanges 14 hes-8 tween which flanges the chains travel.

longitudinally extendingrails are connected at their ends to brackets 15 having divor ing arms 16 connected with the side bars 3 othe yokes or frames-2 anda cross head 'onlink 17: '35

connecting the diverging arms. -The cross head or lmk 17. servesas a ournal mounting g;

for upper and lower guide roller shaftsv 18' upon which are mounted upper guide rollers 19 and lower guide rollers 20 over which the 9 endless chains pass. the eripheries of the-up'-.-

er and lower guide ro lers beinm'closer-to-...i a

gether than the pe-ri heries of the u per and.

ower sprocket whee s, so that the c ains di v verge from one another after passing over the guide rollers, allowing convenient mgress 4 of the stuffed sausage casing and egress of the 7- corn leted string of sausages. T e companion upper chains and the com-"- at suitable intervals cross brackets 21 and I '21" respectively, each having inits center-a1 Fig. 3 a top or plan vww of ,the entu maclamp .22, the two clamps being oppositelg chine; Fig. 4 a cross sectional view takenon disposed with respect to one another. Eac

clamp comprises two pairs of divergent fin-' "1' 5 geis- 22, and the lingers of each pair are adapted, when he clamps are interlocked, to straddle the compnm n cross bracket, as

pnnion lower chains have mounted thereon 100.

center for the reception of the sausage casing, which, when the clamps are brought together, is clamped and held by the interlocked fingers. As best shown in Figs. and 8 this interlocking of the clamping fingers is intended to clamp the forwardly travelin casing stuffed with sausage meat, at suitab e intervals to measure oil the individual links of ro sausage.. The com letcd Links travel between two 'pairs of ink rollers 23 which are secured to s rafts 24 journaled between brackets 25 secured to the frame of the machine. f.

The twisting is performed by means of upr 5 per and lower twisters 26, each of which consists of a plurality of rubber disks 27 mounted on a rod 28. The lower twister iscarried between arms 29 fixedly secured to plates 30 which are slidebly mounted upon a pair of :0 lower guide rods 31 extending transversely of the sprocket chains and in suitable proximity to the inner or clamping sections of the chains. The upper twistersare mounted between arms 32 secured to vertical adjust- 5 able stems 33 which latter are carried by upper plates 34 similar in function and arrangement to the pistes 30 and slidably mounted upon upper cross guide rods 35 in parallel relation and suitable proximity-t0 the lower 30 guide rods with which they co-operate. The

stems 33 are heid in adjusted position by means of set screws. 36 which permit the distance between the twisters to be varied to accommodate the machine for use in twisting 3 5 sausages of different diameters.

' The lower slidable plates=30 at opposite ends of the lower twister are connected by means of a cross brace 37, and the adjustable stems 33 are likewise connected by a cross 0 bar 38 which permits the uniform raising and lowering of both ends of the upper twister. The slidablymounted plates 34 are connected by means of a cross brace 39 which arrangement of braces permits the reciprocation of the upper and lower twisters without binding or biting due to lateral play-or. movement of the parts. I

One of the plates 30 has on its outer face ears 10 between .which' is ivoted the end of an operating arm 41 w rich operates the lower twister; a similar rod'42 pivoted to a bracket 43 on one of the up r dates 34 operates the upper twister. s s own in Fig. 3, the arms 41 and 42 are pivoted to the free 5 5 ends of oppositely extending revolving arms 43 secured to a vertical shaft 44 which is pivotally mounted within a frame 45 secured to uprights, 46 which latter are positioned in suitable proximity to the frame of the remaining portion of the machine. The shaft 44 has thereon a bevel pinion 47 which meshes with a bevel pinion 48 on a shaft 49, which lath-r has on its end an operating s rocket wheel 50. 0 One of the lower shafts carrying the endshown in Fig. 8, leaving an opening in the less chain sprocket wheels is provided with an extended section 51 having thereon sprocket wheels 52 and 53, the latter of which is connected with the sprocket wh el 50 by means of a sprocket chain 54. The sprocket wheel 52 has mounted thereon a sprocket chain 55 which passes around the sprocket wheel 56 mounted on a shaft 57, which shaft has mounted thereon a lurality of gear wheels 58 of varying size.- he link- 5 ing machine is used in connection with a stufi'er '59 of any well known character, which stuifer is operated by means of a handle 60 which, in addition to operating the stuifer, is adapted to impart rotaiion'to a power shaft 61 through themedium of a sprocket chain 62. The power-shaft 61 has therein a groove 63 which permits the adjustment of a voke bracket '64 which carries an intermediate gear wheel 65 meshing with a gear wheel 66 on the ooved power shaft. The yoke is provid with a forwardly extending arm 66' which is intended to be hooked under any one of a' pluralitv of retainin fingers-67 which are adapted to hold the pinion 65 into 0 mesh with any one of the lurality of different sized gear wheels on t e shaft 57. This arrangement enables the operation of the linker in conformity with the size of the sausage intended to be stuffed. The stuffed 5 casing 68 is fed from the stufier through a guide trou h 69 adjustahly mounted on an n right 1' 70 in suitable proximity to the c amping chains adapted to form the links.

In operation the casing stuffed with sauloo sage meat is placed in suitable position to be caught and clamped between the interlocking fingers carried by the upper vand lower endless sprocket chains, which fingers are so positioned on the chains that during the rev-.

olution of the chains they will remain interlocked during-the inner circuit of the chains,

and when caught by the interiocking fingers the stuffed sausage casing is carried forward between the twister-s which are moved in opro posite directions by means-of the revolvin arms 43 which revolve simultaneously wit the forward movement of the stuffed sausage casing. The rubber disks engaging the upper and lower sides of a clamped section of u 5 sausage casing revolve the section, clamped at each end, asuitable number of times, thereby twisting the section into a link of sausage and said twistingoperation-wiil continue until the upper and lower twister-s have moved in op- 12o posite directions out of proximity with oneanother. The disks of the twisters, being arranged longitudinally with respect to the travel of the sausage casing, permit longitudinalmovement thereof, but at the same time i: 5 compel the rotation of the clam ed section by reason of the resilient or elastic nature of the rubber of which the disks are com After the first link has been twisted it will pass beyond the line of travel of the twisters 1 o v r x erra -5 v it 3 mended: nems eceeqinai aelped section s f other. van a link has been formed as above specified i t ;passes b e'twecn the link i Tulle-r523 w elf prevent any untwistingor I link of sausage and when the entire twisting be engaged by the upper and,lower twisters. on their return movement, which will, of

-tigh ,y twisted that ,it will be permanently jhelu againstuntwistmg by the ressure of the v sausage meat contained wit jnstcd with espect to the lower twister by ';be linked. As thesize or diameter pf the sausages s ncreased or diminished it will be' the-sausage cashig willpass into position to course, twist the clam ed section in a direction opposite to that 0 the preceding section, so that the number of twists given to the 0113* ing between individual links of sausage will be doubled by the forward and returnmovements of the twisters which always travel im oppqsitedirections with respect to one anrotary moyement' of the sausage link during the operation of twisting the next succeeding movement has been completed the sausage casu between the links will be so firmly and p the links which is compressedmore or less by the tyvrstrn operation so that the twist willbe very tig t and permanent. i

. When it is desirable to change the diametor of the li ks the upper twister-can be adregulating the vertical position of the stems 33 so that sausages of different diameters can necessary to throw the driving pinion into mesh with different sized gears of the series- 58 so that the speed of operation of the linker with respect to the, operation of the stufi'er will be increased or diminished as ma be de-' sim'd. The guide .wheels over which theclampmg sprocket chain's pass cause the chains to converge from one another at their dischar re ends, which allows the sausage casing to fed into'and' outjof the 'mac e without difficulty and without any danger of breaking or tearing:t he completed string of sausages. ,j '"he operation of the machine is extremel easy, the entire machine being operated wit the expenditure of but little more power than is ordinarily necessary in operating the stufier, and the adjustmentor co-operatidn betv. een the stufier and linker can be so regulated that each'of the links will beuniformlyfilled, measured Ofi. and twisted by acontinuous ,and uninterru ted; -operation whic greatly facilitates and ekpedites the operas tion' of making strings of sausages, The twisting operation gives an extremely t ht and durab e twist to the sausage links :uchare delivered from the machine in a continuous string in proper condition for the market. =Al oughthe-mvention has beendescribed with considerable particularit as to detail, it Willbe understood that t e inetho'fi of mounting the chains and twisters .and the method of operating the same can be changed or varied to. aconsiderable extent without depertin from the's irit oi the invention.

. What regardas new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: 1;. In 'a sausage linking machine, the com bination of co-operating clamping devices for clamping the sausage casing at suitable intervals to form links, continuously movable linking mechanism on which the clamping devices are mounted, and reciprocating twisters movable back and forth in a straight line and in transverse relation to the path of travel of the carriers and adapted to twist thelinks without impeding their forward travel, substantially as described. 8o 2. In a sausage linkin machine, the com- 1 bination of clamping evices adapted to clamp and hold the stufi'ed sausage casing at predetermined intervals to form links, and twisters oppositely and simultaneously movable with respect to one another and movable back and forth in a transverse line with respect to the stufi'e'd sausage casing, substanitially as described.

revolvin the chain carrying sproc 3. In a sausage linking machine, the combination of upper and lower endless chains, co-operating interlocking clam ing fingers. secured to the chains at 'suita-b e intervals, sprocket wheels on which the chains are mounted, reciprocating, up er and lower 5 twisters, guides on which t 1e twisters are slidably mounted, extending transversely with respect to the endless chains, and mechanism for moving the twisters transversely of the chains and'in oppositedirections simultaneou'sly with the forward travel of the chains, substantially as described.

4. In a sausage linking machine, the com-. bination ofupper and lower endless chains, co-operating interlocking clam ing lingers r05 secured to the chains at suitahe intervals, sprocket wheels on .which the chains are mounted, upper and lower twisters, guides on which the-twisters are slidably mounted, extendin transversely with respect' to the no endless 0 sins, arms pivoted to the upper and lower twisters respectively, a revelvi arm to which the ends of the first mentione arms are secured, and mechanism for simultaneously actuating the revolvin arm and et wheels, substantiallyasdescribe J 5. In asausage linking machine, the combination of forwardly moving clamping mechanism adapted to clamp. a stuffed san- 12o sage casing at suitable intervals to form links,

and cot-operating twists-rs adapted to be simultaneously moved in opposite directions in transv serelation to the ath of travekof the clamping mechanism, sac of the twisters x z 5 being composed otfle'xible disks adapted to compel the rotation of the clamped sections of stuffed casing and permit the forward movement thereof between the flexible disks, suhstanti ally as described.

ing and compelling a rotary movementthereof, one ufthe tuisters being adjustable toward and from the other to permit the machine to operate upon stuil'ed casings of differ-- ent diameter, substantially as described.

7. In a sausage linking machine, the combination of clamping mechanism adapted to clamp a stutled sausage casing at predetermined intervals to form links, and a twister adapted to move in transverse relation to the path of travel of the stuffed sausage casing, said twister being composed of flexible disks ada )ted to impart rotation to the clamped section of stufi'ed casing, and adapted to perm'it a forward movement of the casing between the flexible disks, substantially as described. V

8. In a sausage linking machine, the combination of a frame, upper and lower carrier wheels journaled thereon, upper and lower endless carriers mounted 0I 1 th0 wheels, cooperating clamping devices mounted at suita le intervals on the carriers and adapted to interlock when brought into adjacent position to clamp a section of stufi'ed sau'sge casing, companion twisters slidabiy mounted i transverse relation to the movement of the carriers, means adapted to move the twisters in opposite directions to twist the clam d section into a link of sausage and adapte to reverse the movement of the twisters to twist,

the next sucreedingsection in the opposite direct-ion, substantially as described.

9. In a sausage linking machine, the combination of two pairs of upper sprocket wheels, two pairs of lowers rocket wheels, two endless upper sprocket c rains, two endless Iower s rocket chains, cross-brackets connecting t 1e upper and lower s rocket chains at predetermmed intervals, 0 amping fingers carried by the brackets and adapted to interlock when brought into proximitywith one another for measuring off and clamping a stuffed sausage casing, transversely extending upper and lower guide rods, upper and lower twisters slidably mounted thereon and adapted to permit longitudinal travel of the sausage casing simultaneousl with the twistingof the clamped sections thereof, mechanism for reciprocating the twisters in o posite directions with respect to one anot ier for twisting one clamped section of a sausage casing in one direction and the next succeeding clam d section in the opposite direction, and mechanism for rotating a sprocket wheel substantially as described.

HUGO R. KUERSTEN.

W'itnesses: Geo. M. Hacrrr, CARL F. Bnon. 

